Nonis using depth to go shopping....

[Britishbulldog]

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1572516-report-toronto-maple-leafs-seeking-another-enter-eyeing-mike-ribeiro

According to Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star, the Leafs are searching the trade market for yet another top-six center as well as a top-four defenceman.

According to the report, Zwolinski lists Mike Ribeiro of the Washington Capitals as a possible trade target.

Sounds like Stastny and O'Byrne to me....just saying. 

JVR / Stastny / Kessel


Gardiner / O'Byrne...

Nice!

 

[hockeyfan1]

Nonis, on Prime Time Sports,  when asked about any potential trade movement at the deadline...

...there's more value in retaining those players ? despite their free agent status this summer ? than in moving them at the deadline.Nonis also suggested he could be both a buyer and a seller by the deadline.

?We could be moving players out, we could move some picks to bring players in,? he said on the show. ?It?s going to be determined on what?s available to us.?

Little-used defenseman John-Michael Liles has been mentioned as a trade candidate, though his modified no-trade clause and $3.875-million annual salary are significant sticking points.

Mike Komisarek was placed on waivers Wednesday, an indication of his low value on the trade market.

Nikolai Kulemin's offensive woes have carried over from last season, which hassparked rumors about his availability. The 26-year-old has one year and $2.8 million remaining on his contract.

While Nonis remains pleased with the performance from young goalies James Reimer and Ben Scrivens, their inexperience will likely keep him in the market for a veteran netminder.

Source:  THN

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Apparently Leafs were at the front of the pack in going after Western Michigan defenseman Danny DeKeyser, considered the top NCAA free agent this year.

@TSNBobMcKenzie

TOR was front and centre for DeKeyser when Brian Burke was GM. Now ANA, where Burke is working, said to be heavily in the mix.

@TSNBobMcKenzie

Some think top contenders for DeKeyser are DET, STL, ANA and EDM but multiple teams have high interest. PHI and OTT will be pushing hard too

Some info about him: http://thehockeywriters.com/danny-dekeyser-the-top-ncaa-free-agent-available/


Wonder if this means the Leafs are no longer interested.

 

[TML fan]

Apparently Leafs were at the front of the pack in going after Western Michigan defenseman Danny DeKeyser, considered the top NCAA free agent this year.

@TSNBobMcKenzie

TOR was front and centre for DeKeyser when Brian Burke was GM. Now ANA, where Burke is working, said to be heavily in the mix.

@TSNBobMcKenzie

Some think top contenders for DeKeyser are DET, STL, ANA and EDM but multiple teams have high interest. PHI and OTT will be pushing hard too

Some info about him: http://thehockeywriters.com/danny-dekeyser-the-top-ncaa-free-agent-available/


Wonder if this means the Leafs are no longer interested.

Or he's no longer interested in them.

 

[Chev-boyar-sky]

Apparently Leafs were at the front of the pack in going after Western Michigan defenseman Danny DeKeyser, considered the top NCAA free agent this year.

@TSNBobMcKenzie

TOR was front and centre for DeKeyser when Brian Burke was GM. Now ANA, where Burke is working, said to be heavily in the mix.

@TSNBobMcKenzie

Some think top contenders for DeKeyser are DET, STL, ANA and EDM but multiple teams have high interest. PHI and OTT will be pushing hard too

Some info about him: http://thehockeywriters.com/danny-dekeyser-the-top-ncaa-free-agent-available/


Wonder if this means the Leafs are no longer interested.

Or he's no longer interested in them.

Which of these types of players have really turned out in recent years?

I honestly don't know. I can think of Frattin (looks like he might be pretty good), Bozak (ok) and Butler (bust so far). Beyond that I'd be hard pressed to name anyone.

They seem like super long shot types of players, who need time to develop (i.e. a 3rd line/2nd or 3rd D pairing spot). If Toronto is thinking about seriously going for it soon, I'm not sure we have room for the kid (D spots all full ATM and a handful of good prospects in the A).

The saying is "you can never have too many good players" but at some point they need to see time in the show and not have a detrimental effect on the W/L column or the development of higher ceiling prospects/players.

If the kid were a potential #1C however.....                                                         

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Jason Garrison, Matt Read, Cory Conacher are some recent examples.  Obviously more don't pan out than do, but such is the case with the draft, too.

 

[princedpw]

Jason Garrison, Matt Read, Cory Conacher are some recent examples.  Obviously more don't pan out than do, but such is the case with the draft, too.

Ben Scrivens as well?

Matt Gilroy a little bit?  (But he was so highly touted and really seems as most a 3rd pairing D so far.)

The observation that many don't pan out is a good one.

However, it is pretty low-risk to try to sign these guys.  If you get a little lucky then they provide a bit of cheap waiver-exempt depth for a while.  If you get really lucky then they turn in to a useful 2nd-3rd line player.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Isn't that Schultz kid in Edmonton an undrafted college player?

 

[seahawk]

Isn't that Schultz kid in Edmonton an undrafted college player?

Justin Schultz was a UFA coming out of Wisconsin.

 

[bustaheims]

Isn't that Schultz kid in Edmonton an undrafted college player?

Not undrafted, no.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Ah yeah, that's right....Drafted but unsigned right?

 

[bustaheims]

Ah yeah, that's right....Drafted but unsigned right?

Sort of, yes. More that he took advantage of a loop hole to not sign with the team that drafted him than anything else, though.

 

[bustaheims]

I honestly don't know. I can think of Frattin (looks like he might be pretty good), Bozak (ok) and Butler (bust so far). Beyond that I'd be hard pressed to name anyone.                                           

Frattin was drafted by the Leafs, so, he doesn't really qualify here. But, going a little further back into hockey history, Cujo, Belfour, Adam Oates and Brian Rafalski were all undrafted UFAs.

 

[bustaheims]

On the topic . . .

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/opinion/2013/01/undrafted-players-have-been-noticeable-this-nhl-season.html

 

[Kin]

However, it is pretty low-risk to try to sign these guys.  If you get a little lucky then they provide a bit of cheap waiver-exempt depth for a while.  If you get really lucky then they turn in to a useful 2nd-3rd line player.

I think that's more the point. These guys can, if lucky, turn out to be pretty useful pieces. I think in Toronto, though, there's been this kind of belief that these guys are better prospects than they really are(calling them the equivalent of 1st round picks, for instance). If you look at the list Busta posted the only guys on it who are or were legit all-star kinds of players are Dan Boyle and Martin St. Louis and their draft years were almost 20 years ago. Scouting has improved, I think, to the point that these guys have pretty limited ceilings.

 

[bustaheims]

Yeah, you're not likely to find a lot of elite level talent this way, but, it's certainly worth taking the chance if you can add someone like Read/Clarkson/Bozak/Garrison to your organization.

 

[TML fan]

I think a lot of people have taken the whole "1st round pick equivalent" thing to mean something other than what Burke said. I think this is because of the context of the time at which Burke said it, when the Leafs had surrendered a top 3 pick.

Given Tyler Bozak's production and his NHL service to date, I think we'd all be pretty happy if the Leafs picked him say, 24th in the draft. Considering how many first round picks don't even make the NHL, and the likelihood of that decreasing in every subsequent round, I'd say Bozak is someone who would have likely been picked in the first round had he been drafted.

 

[Kin]

I think a lot of people have taken the whole "1st round pick equivalent" thing to mean something other than what Burke said. I think this is because of the context of the time at which Burke said it, when the Leafs had surrendered a top 3 pick.

Given Tyler Bozak's production and his NHL service to date, I think we'd all be pretty happy if the Leafs picked him say, 24th in the draft. Considering how many first round picks don't even make the NHL, and the likelihood of that decreasing in every subsequent round, I'd say Bozak is someone who would have likely been picked in the first round had he been drafted.

I think, though, that's only true if you're looking at what Burke said with the benefit of hindsight as opposed to taking what he said when he said it. While there's an extent to which you should be happy if any drafted prospect turns into a useful NHL player, regardless of where he's drafted if what we're seeing from him is Bozak's ceiling then I don't think I would be happy with drafting someone with that kind of ceiling in the first round. When you call someone the equivalent of a 1st rounder before we've seen them you're saying that you're adding someone comparable to a 1st round prospect.

It's not saying "He has the chance to be a decent NHL player and, in the end, isn't that an ok result from a first round pick?" mainly because that's no more true of a 1st rounder than it is a 2nd or 3rd.

 

[Rebel_1812]

However, it is pretty low-risk to try to sign these guys.  If you get a little lucky then they provide a bit of cheap waiver-exempt depth for a while.  If you get really lucky then they turn in to a useful 2nd-3rd line player.

I think that's more the point. These guys can, if lucky, turn out to be pretty useful pieces. I think in Toronto, though, there's been this kind of belief that these guys are better prospects than they really are(calling them the equivalent of 1st round picks, for instance). If you look at the list Busta posted the only guys on it who are or were legit all-star kinds of players are Dan Boyle and Martin St. Louis and their draft years were almost 20 years ago. Scouting has improved, I think, to the point that these guys have pretty limited ceilings.

I agree.  With scouting what it is today, there really aren't any hidden gem prospects.  Remeber that can't miss undrafted prospect out of Sweden that the leafs almost signed and he ended up signing with Dallas.  He was compared to Daniel Alfredson at the time, but ended up as nothing.

 

[TML fan]

I think a lot of people have taken the whole "1st round pick equivalent" thing to mean something other than what Burke said. I think this is because of the context of the time at which Burke said it, when the Leafs had surrendered a top 3 pick.

Given Tyler Bozak's production and his NHL service to date, I think we'd all be pretty happy if the Leafs picked him say, 24th in the draft. Considering how many first round picks don't even make the NHL, and the likelihood of that decreasing in every subsequent round, I'd say Bozak is someone who would have likely been picked in the first round had he been drafted.

I think, though, that's only true if you're looking at what Burke said with the benefit of hindsight as opposed to taking what he said when he said it. While there's an extent to which you should be happy if any drafted prospect turns into a useful NHL player, regardless of where he's drafted if what we're seeing from him is Bozak's ceiling then I don't think I would be happy with drafting someone with that kind of ceiling in the first round. When you call someone the equivalent of a 1st rounder before we've seen them you're saying that you're adding someone comparable to a 1st round prospect.

It's not saying "He has the chance to be a decent NHL player and, in the end, isn't that an ok result from a first round pick?" mainly because that's no more true of a 1st rounder than it is a 2nd or 3rd.

Fair point. I suppose it depends on what your definition of a first round prospect is. Or perhaps Bozak was projected with a higher ceiling, in which case I guess he'd be considered a first round bust.